Uruguay Facts: 40 Interesting And Crazy Facts About Uruguay

Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in the southeastern region of South America. With these40 interesting facts about Uruguay, let’s learn about its culture, economy, history, people, education, trade, industries, sports, religion; and some funny and weird facts about Uruguay.

Uruguay facts about the country’s economy, trade, major industries and more…

Fact 1:There are more sheep in Uruguay than humans! In 2005, Uruguay, which is well suited for raising sheep and cattle, had 9,712,000 sheep, which was second highest in South America after Brazil. The production costs for raising livestock are low, but the quality of production is high in Uruguay.

Fact 2:Exports of meat and wool made Uruguay prosperous during the early 20th century.

Fact 3: Uruguay exported $1 billion worth of livestock in 2000.

Fact 4: Uruguay is the only country to keep track of 100% of their cattle. There are three cows for every person in the country.

Some interesting and weird facts about Uruguay, its people, religion, smoking ban and more…

Fact 28:Marijuana trade has been legal in the country since December 2013. The cost is approximately one dollar per gram.

Fact 29: Uruguayans are very fond of naming their houses, which is why every single house in the country has its own name. Their houses are not marked with numbers as in other countries. They also name their cities from a collection of names that they use for many other cities. For this reason, you may get confused if you are traveling from one city to the other!

Fact 30: Did you read the name carefully – ‘Uruguay’? It is the only country whose name in English has the same letter repeated three times in its first five letters. The repeated letter is ‘U’.

Fact 31: Uruguay is the second-smallest country in South America, after Suriname.

Fact 32: Uruguay is the most non-religious country in the Americas. So much so that they have renamed many of their traditional holidays. Now, Christmas is called Family Day and Holy Week is called Tourism Week.

Fact 33: Uruguayans go to bars not just to become intoxicated, but to socialize.

Fact 34: Uruguay has the longest national anthem in the world. It is six minutes long and very engaging.

Fact 35: Smoking is banned in Uruguay in enclosed public places. Almost one third of its population smokes, which is why strict measures were adopted to curb this deadly habit. A campaign called “A Million Thanks” was launched by the president to reference the number of smokers. Interestingly, the legislation was supported by close to 70% of its smoking population.

Fact 36: Uruguay’s national flag has nine strips and a sun with a human face in the upper left-hand corner. Their national anthem also contains the line “No one insults the image of the sun!”

Fact 37: More than half of its population lives in its capital city, Montevideo.

Fact 38: Advertising is done by means of large speakers installed on the tops of vans running across the city. Van drivers use microphones to deliver advertisements.

Fact 39: The name Uruguay, when translated, means “river of painted birds.”

They have the world’s poorest politician

Interesting facts about Uruguay: World’s Poorest Politician

Fact 40: Amazingly, Uruguay has the world’s poorest politician. Yes, their president lives in simplicity, donating 90% of his salary to noble causes. He owns a one-bedroom house and a three-legged dog.

Quick facts about Uruguay

Independence

25 August 1825 (from Brazil)

Capital City

Montevideo
34°53′S 56°10′W

Largest City

Montevideo
34°53′S 56°10′W

Government type

presidential republic

National Anthem

"Himno Nacional" (National Anthem of Uruguay)
note: adopted 1848; the anthem is also known as "Orientales, la Patria o la tumba!" ("Uruguayans, the Fatherland or Death!"); it is the world's longest national anthem in terms of music (105 bars; almost five minutes); generally only the first verse and chorus are sung

77.19 years (2016)
Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life.

There are some mistakes, while there are a lot of named houses and flats and in some touristic areas like Punta del Este it’s hard to find a house that is not named, we mostly just go by house number in the rest of the cities.

Also, our “blueness” is a major characteristic of the population, I know it would be a rather sad fact, but some of us are even proud of our lack of optimism.